Conclusion

Tonight, the ones with the biggest vocal issues were Serbia’s Bojana and Poland’s Monika. Perfection was delivered by Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Latvia, Romania and Italy.

There is a huge ballad competition in there, which is probably won by Italy and Russia. In the uptempo discipline, we probably see Sweden and Belgium in the Top 5. Then, Latvia could join them to make them complete. That’s my first little prediction, my full one will be coming soon.

That’s it for now – thanks for staying tuned to us, tonight!

27. Italy

Our three Italian heartbreakers are spot-on from the first second on. In the first verse, there’s this vibrating tension thing in the air, similar to Cinquetti’s “l’atmosfera” moment in 1974. Finally it gave me goosebumps, and then Red Glasses Guy delivers an incredibly strong part. Bombastic, gorgeous delivery.

26. Albania

Oh well. You know, I love Albania and Festivali i Këngës and all other songs that they have sent to Eurovision so far. This is the exception, and a big one. I would love to cover my ears in every second, and really don’t feel like rating her vocals, as it’s such a torture for me to even pay attention to it. It will not come last, that’s where Cyprus or the UK will end up, but not much higher, either. Please, please, forgive my rant here. Here, I finally covered my ears. I can’t take it, sorry.

25. Russia

Polina’s lower notes still seem a little bit off to me, but who cares. She absolutely delivers this song, she sells it, as if it was the most important thing in the world at this very moment. Brilliant performance.

We get to see a horrible camera moment again, as someone holds a “Germany 12 Points” sign up into the way, but the juries are surely less sensitive to that than the televoters. As I type this, Russia is already in the Top 3, there’s no doubt about it.

24. Azerbaijan

Elnur is better than in previous rehearsals, nothing to complain here. The dancers are still absolutely distracting, but you’ll still hear the song, without having Elnur in focus. Is that maybe their plan, maybe? Not sure about a Top 10 result, but it will be far away from the Bottom 10.

23. Georgia

Nina is in good shape, no problems here. Coming right after Hungary, it will wake up many households, and it’s not jury unfriendly either. My conservative 80 years old father liked this. Juries will too, and so I predict a top 10 placement for Georgia.

22. Hungary

Boggie has a few weak moments, but nothing that will do a lot of damage to her. This will end up much higher than most fans think.

21. Spain

Edurne has a few off-key moments as well, but generally continues the sequence of decent vocal deliveries.

It’s a good performance, and of course the tiger will drive in some extra votes.

20. Romania

Călin, the lead singer of Voltaj, is perfectly in tune, as well. The captivating song is performed very powerfully, and in the end the child from the video is waving into the camera. I really hope for a Top 10 placement.

19. Latvia

Aminata is absolutely nailing it. Perfection from the start until the end, wow. She’s fucking absolutely nailing it. God, whatelse can I say! Top 3 material. If Rona Nishliu could conquer hearts all over Europe with a much more difficult song, and from start position 3, then hell, where can this end..

18. Poland

This song has grown a lot on me in the past days. I think they handle the background of the song in a very unobstrusive, “elegant” (if you can even use the word in the context) way. Monika unfortunately has problems, though. Her voice breaks at some points, she seems to improvise throughout parts of the song. I am a little bit worried, as this became a very dear song to me after all.

17. Germany

Ann-Sophie is flirting with the camera and seems to have recovered from her cold.. at least enough to perform well. She comes across a bit strained at points, but gives her all. The high notes are perfectly found, we hear one of her best presentations so far. Very very decent, but no Top 10 material.

16. Montenegro

Not later than now, the common audience across Europe also will finally notice: This is ballad heavy year.

Knez is giving a very decent performance, but coming right after Greece it can’t stand out a lot. The ones in charge for the running order didn’t have a lot of options to avoid a ballad-after-ballad situation, so that must happen at some point, and it happens now.

15. Greece

Maria-Elena is a bit off in parts of the song, I think. There are a lot of ballads in this final, and she will probably lose the more or less direct duel against Polina. It’s generally fine, but “just fine” is not enough for the Top Ten.

14. Austria

The Makemakes copy Ralf Gyllenhammar’s Bed On Fire burning piano gimmick, deliver a weak and off-key vocal performance, and will probably still get 12 points from the #authenticity fetishists in the German jury. Otherwise? Bottom 10.

13. Belgium

There is absolutely no way that people could miss this, in case they still talk about the Swedish stickman. Even after Australia, it stands out as shining, experimental and well.. impressive. Loïc sings it perfectly fine. Belgium is standing out by a mile compared to anything else, and hence will probably end up in the Top 3. And probably win the whole thing.

12. Australia

In the beginning, Guy lifts his hat, which I think is a very good idea. By this, they can make it feel less enclosed as it looked in earlier rehearsals. Vocally brilliant as always, very tight performance, but it’s probably a little bit too close to Sweden.

11. Cyprus

John sings it nicely, but I get the bad feeling that he will end up in bottom 5, no matter how good his vocals are. It’s completely overshadowed by the preceding Sweden, and the most people on the sofas between Reykjavik and Sydney will still talk about the stickman. Hopeless, especially since the juries will find a lot of better ballad material in the line-up.

10. Sweden

Måns is in perfect shape, but at some point it’s getting revealed how much it’s all build on the backing singers. I haven’t seen him as radiating as tonight, though. Was that also part of his performance, or was it for once, a real emotion? Hard to tell with such a professional product.

9. Norway

Mørland hits the notes. Then Debrah appears and hits her notes. Very beautiful singing here, this improved a lot compared to earlier rehearsals. The highlight note “GOOOO” was hit well, too, and the ending was quite right as well. The juries will love it!

8. Serbia

Bojana is pretty much off, especially in the first verse and chorus, it’s her worst vocal performance so far. I am quite confident she can rely on the televoting to lift it into the Top 15, but Top 10 placement seems out of reach to me.

7. Lithuania

This coming right after the dragging Armenian snoozefest is actually a great start position for Vaidas and Monika! They are in perfect harmony, the spark is coming across very well. The triple kiss is already a magic moment in Eurovision history. Will the juries feel in love with all of it?

6. Armenia

Now, this is more depending on the jury’s mercy than the UK, and I think there are quite some wrong notes from the one or other member of Genealogy. If I’m not all mistaken, one of them even forgets to sing a whole word. In the last part of the song some terribly painful whining. The staging is nicer than anything else.

5. United Kingdom

How should I judge this, really. She removed her featherboa again and now has extensions to cover her back. I still wait for Dita von Teese to pop up from behind the stairs. Hotly tipped for the last place. Sorry dear friends from the United Kingdom. I hope I’m wrong.

4. Estonia

Stig’s low notes are also a little bit off, but that’s no big news. Elina’s appearance is spot-on and her vocals perfect. The chemistry is not as intense as in the semi-final, but juries shouldn’t be too concerned about that. Good number, hopefully rewarded with a top 10 placement.

3. Israel

It’s hard to blank out the fanboys in the press centre in order to judge it, but I’m trying my best. Some of his notes are quite out there in the wild, but mostly he’s fine, and it’s all in the groove. Is it jury friendly? Well, we’ll find out soon.

2. France

Lisa’s first notes seem a little bit shaky and out of tune, but she will have plenty of other moments to compensate. Which she does. She is present on the stage with all her emotions, and even some tears in her eyes. She nails most parts of the song perfectly, and the goosebump moment with the drummers is absolutely thrilling. This must come Top 10.

1. Slovenia

Marjetka’s voice sounds a bit much pressed in the intro, but that’s also her “signature sound”. Not sure if the juries will like it, but at least she hits every note fine.

To me, it comes across very tight and fully grown, even compared to the semi-final.

Intro

The show begins with an orchestra playing classical music. I’d assume they mean they play songs of Austrian composers. Me being German, I have to stress that the composer of Ode To Joy was German, not Austrian. But well, this is one of our favourite issues of dispute, in the love-hate relationship between us Germans and Austrians 😉

The sphere is flying into the hall, Conchita appears.

Then we get to a very melancholic moment, as a violinist appears to perform Austria’s first winning entry, “Merci Cherie”. As the photo of the late Udo Jürgens appears, a megastar in the German speaking countries, I can’t deny that I shed some tears here in the press centre.

Conchita then flies over the audience, our hosts Arabella, Miriam and Alice tune into a song about Building Bridges, followed by a children choir and quite some randomness. The camerawork is very wrong at some points, I hope they get all issues solved by tomorrow evening.

Now we are seeing a video sequence with people “building bridges” from country to country, accompanied by Russia’s 2013 entry What If. Interesting choice of a soundtrack! Towards the end, we are seeing a German guy and an Austria guy kissing. All is forgiven.

Good Evening  Europe, and Good Morning Australia!

This is the second dress rehearsal for the grand final, we are blogging live from the press centre in Vienna.

Tonight, we will put our focus on vocals, charm and overall effectivity. Remember to refresh the post every few minutes, to see the latest updates.